


Restaurant AU

by almy9306



Category: Whose Line Is It Anyway? RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7095919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almy9306/pseuds/almy9306
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seated together at a family-style restaurant and everyone thinks they’re a couple already AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

“Trust me, Ryan, this deal is amazing. Two for one meal? With desert? Do you really want to miss out on that?” Colin said as he collapsed down into the seat next to Ryan. “I mean, it’s not like either of us could afford a normal dinner out anyway.” 

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I haven’t even been to that restaurant before. It could be some crappy family run restaurant,” Ryan replied, leaning towards Colin. He plucked the voucher out of Colin’s hands. He had already read it through, but he felt like there was something strangely off about it. 

The last time Colin had gotten them a deal like this, the food had tasted so bad neither of them even bothered to get the free desert. It had been a shock to them both to find out that stew could actually taste burnt.

“I asked the guy when I got it. He promised the food tasted fine,” Colin assured. 

“And did you happen to be talking to the restaurant’s owner?” Ryan asked.

“No. It was just a guy who worked there.” Colin said. Ryan stared at him.

“You know they are paid to get in customers, right?” Ryan placed the voucher down on the table and continued, “It’s their job.”

“I know, I know. But he seemed trustworthy. He was so friendly and nice, and he smiled all the time. I couldn’t just say no.” Colin said, smiling at the memory. Ryan felt a spark of annoyance at the guy.

“You can say no now. He wouldn’t ever know.” Ryan insisted.

“It’s not like it’s a bad deal, Ryan. Do you have a better plan for dinner tonight?” Colin looked at Ryan, already knowing what his answer would be. Ryan scowled. 

“Fine. We can go,” Ryan said, giving in. “But if it’s terrible, we are never going on one of your cheap food escapades again.”

“Fair enough. I’m only agreeing because I already know this deal is going to work out.” Colin agreed, seeming oddly triumphant. 

“Whatever,” Ryan replied, “Where is this restaurant anyway?” 

 

———

 

As soon as Colin and Ryan entered the restaurant, they felt out of place. Not in the ‘whoa, I’m not meant to be here’ kinda way, but more in the ‘I turned up to a party and forgot they had a dress code’ way. 

Only in this version, the party was a restaurant and the dress code was kids. Yep, it was a family restaurant. Sure, there was a few couples without kids or friends hanging out but the main thing was kids. The booths were sized to fit six people, not two. Ryan was beginning to realise that his gut feeling had been right. 

“Colin,” Ryan said, moving close to Colin so they could hear each other over the noise of the people. “You could have told me it was a family restaurant!”

“I didn’t know!” Colin whispered back to him, turning to face Ryan. “It didn’t say anything on the voucher.”

“You didn’t think to check elsewhere? Where did you even get the voucher from?!” Ryan asked. 

“I -“ Colin was about to reply when a waiter approached them. The waiter had a huge smile on his face that somehow got even wider when he saw Colin. 

“Colin! Oh, it’s good to see you. I suppose you’ve decided to use the voucher?” The waiter said. Ryan felt an instant flash of protectiveness, and moved slightly so he was in between Colin and the waiter. The waiter surprised him by holding out his hand, as if to shake it. 

“Hello, Colin’s friend. What’s your name?” The waiter asked, still grinning. This must be the waiter who gave Colin the voucher. Colin was right, he really did smile all the time. Ryan shook the waiter’s hand, briefly and roughly. He still felt uncertain as to whether he liked this man or not. 

“His name is Ryan. Hey, I was just wondering, are all the booths this big? There is only the two of us here tonight,” Colin said, taking over the talking. The waiter didn’t seem surprised by the question. Instead he looked between Colin and Ryan, smiling even more. Ryan had no idea how this guy managed to smile so much. He wondered if his face ever hurt from so much smiling.

“Of course. Most of them are booked, but I think we might be able to get one free just for you guys.” The waiter walked over to a large book next to them, scanning the pages. “Booth Six appears to be free at the moment. I’ll take you guys over to it.” 

“Thank you. We really appreciate it,” Colin said, following closely behind the waiter like a dog would to it’s owner. Ryan reluctantly joined, finding that he was beginning to like this restaurant less and less by the minute. And he hadn’t even tried the food.

The waiter brought them over to an empty booth. It was much smaller than the other ones, but still the same shape. The closed off area was looking strangely appealing. He had noticed people staring at him and Colin when they were walking over. He wasn’t sure why, but getting in the booth would make it go away. Ryan quickly slid into the booth. Colin sat down at the other side, smiling at the waiter. 

“I’ll just go and fetch you guys some menus. You two get comfortable.” The waiter said, striding off in another direction. Almost immediately, Colin and Ryan moved closer together to resume their conversation.

“I didn't know it was a family restaurant. There's not much we can do about it now,” Colin said. 

“I knew we shouldn't have come here,” Ryan said angrily, “Everyone's been staring at us from the moment we stepped in! I don't really think I can enjoy my half price meal if the family across the restaurant is staring at us like we're aliens.” 

“It's not that bad, Ryan. Since when did you care what other people thought?” Colin replied, staring directly at Ryan. Ryan frowned.

“I don’t. It just makes me uncomfortable,” Ryan said, calming down a bit. “Don’t they have better things to do?” Colin smiled.

“Of course they don’t. The most interesting thing that’s happened to them all day was that their two year old slept for more than four hours straight. They need drama,” Colin said, placing his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “And we’re it.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just writing this for fun, so I thought a baby would be cute. It fits in surprisingly well! :)

Ryan stayed silent for a moment, considering it. It might have been true, but he didn’t really feel like being the center of attention. Why did they even care about Colin and him anyway? 

“Um… Ryan?” Colin said hesitantly. Ryan turned to see what the problem was. There was anything obviously wrong with Colin.

“What is it?” Ryan asked, concerned. He followed Colin gaze down to the floor, where a small toddler sat at their feet. 

“There is a baby,” Colin said. They both stared at it. It grinned a toothless smile up at them. Colin reached out his hand to touch it, but Ryan quickly intercepted, stopping him.

“Don’t touch it. What if it starts crying?” Ryan said. The toddler stretched out it’s tiny chubby hands to Ryan’s leg.

“It’s a baby, Ryan, it’s more likely to cry it you don’t pick it up. Believe it or not, I have been around babies before.” Colin gently pried Ryan’s fingers off his arm and reached down for the baby again. The baby held it’s arms up so Colin could pick it up. 

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ryan said uneasily. Colin grabbed onto the baby’s midsection and lifted it up onto his knee. He could feel his heart beat faster in preparation for it to start crying. For some reason, it didn’t. 

“See?” Colin said, as he lifted up the baby to lean on his shoulder. “It’s fine. I know how to deal with babies.” 

“It’s a toddler, Colin. If it was really a baby, it would definitely be crying by now,” Ryan responded, slightly annoyed that the toddler actually seemed to like Colin. It was a pretty strange situation though. Where did the baby even come from?

“Toddler, baby. They are basically the same thing. How did it even get here?” Colin asked. He shifted the baby over so it was on his shoulder that was closer to Ryan. It did seem oddly comfortable with movement though. Ryan was right, it was more of a toddler than a baby. Not that it mattered.

“It’s parents are probably looking for it. I don’t really want to see you attempting to walk with a baby in your arms. You may claim you’ve done it before, but I do not want to risk making a toddler cry,” Ryan said. The toddler reached out one of it’s tiny hands to him and made a strange gurgling sound. Hesitantly, Ryan held up his hand in front of the toddler. It grabbed onto his finger, it’s own small hand only just managing to fit around. 

“It seems to like you,” Colin said softly, smiling. The baby continued to pull at Ryan’s finger, seeming extremely fascinated by it. They both looked down at the baby between them, feeling a shared sense of warmth inside of them. Colin was just about to speak again when the waiter arrived. 

“Did you guys always have a baby with you?” The waiter asked, placing the menus down on the table. 

“It crawled under our table. We were just waiting to see if anyone would come looking for it,” Colin replied, leaning away from Ryan. Ryan went to pull his finger away but the baby made a warning noise and he quickly moved back. 

“Well, it seems to like you two. If you guys wait here for a minute, I can check with the other booths if anyones toddler has crept away. Children are very sneaky,” The waiter smiled down at them and then strode off to the other booths. 

“This is why I don’t like family restaurants,” Ryan said, wiggling his finger a little in the baby’s hand. 

“Did you have babies join you for other meals at family restaurants?” Colin asked, smirking.

“No. Of course not. But it does prove my point that parents have nearly no control over their children,” Ryan replied. He hadn’t had children come up to him at family restaurants, but he had suffered from their annoying chaos that their parents never seemed to mind. 

“Do you know anyone that has control over their children?” Colin leaned back closer to Ryan. The baby let out a noise that sounded vaguely like a giggle.

“To know that, I’d have to know people that have children in the first place,” Ryan said. He looked down at the baby, who was switching between staring at Colin and Ryan. It seemed to have a permanently fascinated look on it’s face. Were babies always this calm? The only other ones he had been around cried all the time. Maybe it was just this one.

“It looks like the waiter has found the parent,” Colin said, shifting. Ryan was confused by the sudden topic change, but then realised what Colin was talking about. The waiter was walking over to them with a lady by his side. They were both smiling. The woman was surprisingly relaxed for someone who had just lost their toddler. Ryan suspected it was to do with the waiter’s inescapable charm. 

“So this is the lovely couple who found my baby? He seems to like you two,” The woman said as she approached. Ryan gently pulled his finger out of the baby’s grip so Colin could give back the child. Only, the lady didn’t seem to be in a rush to take him back. 

“Oh, we’re not a couple,” Colin said. “We’re only here because of the two-for-one voucher.” 

“Really? You two look so cute together!” The woman said. She lifted the baby out of Colin’s arms. Colin looked kind of disappointed he had to give it back. 

“Yeah, we’re just friends,” Colin replied. The woman shook her head.

“Sure, honey. Thanks for taking care of little Jeffrey here. You two would make such great dads!” The woman gave them a little wave and walked away. The baby stared at both Colin and Ryan over her shoulder.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations with the waiter and deciding on food. (I have no idea what food they'd get so I just choose basic restaurant foods).

“That was weird,” Colin said, relaxing back into his chair again. Ryan nodded.

“I can’t believe it crawled all the way over here without her noticing. That is one determined little toddler,” Ryan replied. He looked over at the menus on the table and picked them up, handing one to Colin. The menu was pretty standard, offering all of the usual meals like fish and chips or some fancy soup. It did have a small kids section at the top. 

“Do you guys want to start with drinks?” The waiter asked. Ryan looked through the menu, but he couldn’t seem to find where the drinks menu was. Had he gotten the wrong menu? He looked over to Colin to ask, but Colin was already grabbing onto the menu in Ryan’s hands and flipping it over. He didn’t even bother looking up. Ryan glanced down at the other side of the menu, realising that the drinks menu was infact on the back of it. 

“Thanks,” Ryan muttered, reading it. There wasn’t anything odd about this part of the menu either, other than the fact that it offered a lot more sweet drinks than the usual restaurant would. Ryan could feel the waiter’s gaze on them and begun to feel uncomfortable.

“Do the drinks come as part of the deal?” Colin asked, looking up the waiter. The waiter smiled.

“Yes. Sadly, we make you pay for the more expensive drink. I thought you might want to know if you are saving money,” The waiter replied. Colin glanced over at Ryan to affirm his decision and turned back to the waiter.

“We’ll just have some ginger beer, please,” Colin said to the waiter. The waiter wrote down in his note book.

“Both of you?” The waiter asked, raising an eyebrow at Ryan. The two of them nodded in response. 

“Okay, I’ll go and get those to start you off. After that, you can order your meal. Does that sound okay to you guys?” The waiter flashed another smile at them. 

“Sounds great, thank you,” Colin replied. Ryan was about to return to his conversation with him when the waiter interrupted.

“Sorry, I was just wondering… How do you guys communicate like that?” The waiter asked, seeming hesitant.

“Like what?” Colin responded. He and Ryan exchanged confused looks.

“Without words. You both seem to know exactly what the other is thinking. It’s amazing,” The waiter said, a look of awe slipping onto his face. Ryan nearly laughed. 

Sure, he knew most of Colin’s reactions to things and Colin knew his, but he certainly didn’t know what Colin was thinking. He guessed it was just because they had been around each other so long they didn’t need to talk to know what the other person was going to say or do.

“Oh, that,” Colin said, glancing at Ryan. “We’ve just known each other for so long. Other people do it too, don’t they?” 

“Sometimes,” The waiter replied. “But the way you guys did it… It just seemed so natural.” 

“Thanks?” Colin said uncertainly. The waiter had a glazed over look in his eyes and didn’t move for a few seconds. Ryan cleared his throat awkwardly and the waiter seemed to snap out of it.

“Sorry for interrupting you both,” The waiter said quickly, taking a step back from the table. “I’ll go and get your drinks now.” The waiter gave a weird kind of wave and hurried away. If Ryan had actually been paying attention, he might have noticed the slight blush on the waiter’s face. But, he didn’t. Instead he turned back to resume his conversation with Colin like normal.

“That was weird,” Colin said with a grin. Ryan shook his head in fake annoyance, a smile growing on his face.

“It feels like you are going to be saying that a few more times tonight,” Ryan said. “Everything that’s happened since we got here has been weird.”

“Even the free food?” Colin asked.

“We haven’t even had the free food yet, Colin. It could be weird too,” Ryan replied. “And it’s only half price.” 

“Not for you,” Colin said, a teasing look in his eyes. Ryan gave him a confused glance and then realised what Colin was saying.

“I’m not letting you pay full price for your meal, Colin. We’re going halves,” Ryan said firmly, giving Colin a harsh stare. 

“What if the food tastes disgusting? Would you still want to pay?” Colin asked. Ryan snorted.

“We’re friends. I put up with your cheap food adventures and you put up with… well, me,” Ryan replied. Colin relaxed, the teasing look fading. 

“Fine. So, what are we going to order?” Colin picked his menu back up off the table. Ryan looked back down at his, flipping it over so it was back on the food side. 

“Something that’s not expensive and doesn’t sound like it’s going to give us food poisoning,” Ryan said.

“Like usual, then,” Colin said with a smirk. Ryan nodded.

“Of course. The chicken doesn’t look to bad,” Ryan said, leaning over and pointing at the one he was talking about on Colin’s menu. 

“Food poisoning, Ryan,” Colin said. He grabbed onto Ryan’s hand and moved it further up so he was pointing at a different meal. “How about this one? It’s got fish.” 

“It’s just fancy fish and chips, Colin. We could have just gone to a takeaway shop to get this,” Ryan replied.

“That’s not a no. Who doesn’t want fancy fish and chips? I bet it even comes with a little salad,” Colin said, putting on a fake excited tone. 

“Okay. Only because I can’t be bothered to argue with you,” Ryan responded, leaning back. He placed his menu back down on the table and looked out at the restaurant. 

“It’s the cheapest meal on the menu as well! What a great deal.” Colin sighed happily and placed his menu back down on the table as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I wrote about half of the next one, but I couldn't find a good place to end it. This one ends a bit suddenly but I should have the next one up within a few days. Tell me what you think. :)
> 
> Edit: I haven't written enough for the next chapter and I'm going away, so the next chapter won't be up until Wednesday or Thursday next week. :(


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An awkward moment with the waiter and a story of a wedding.

They both sat in silence for a bit before Colin leaned over to Ryan and whispered, “Can you see the waiter?” Ryan shook his head.

“Did you have to get so close to me to say that?” Ryan whispered back. “And I saw the waiter a little while ago. I think he was busy getting the orders for another table.” 

“Oh, okay,” Colin whispered. “Why are we still whispering?” 

“I don’t know,” Ryan whispered, his voice getting slightly louder. “You started it.” 

“Well, you -” Colin begun to reply when Ryan quickly shoved a hand on to Colin’s face. Colin only seemed mildly surprised, but more annoyed than anything.

“Shhh. I think I can see the waiter,” Ryan whispered. He leaned out of the booth and peered out into the restaurant. “Yes! There he is. He’s got our drinks.” 

“Finally,” Colin whispered back, seeming excited. Neither of them spoke as the waiter approached, but both of them stared at him when he finally arrived at their booth.

“I’ve got your drinks. Sorry it took a while, I had some other demanding customers,” The waiter said, placing the drinks down on the table.

“It’s okay,” Colin whispered and then covered his mouth with his hand. He slowly turned towards Ryan and the two of them paused briefly. Ryan let out a slight chuckle and then both of them begun laughing. Ryan turned away from the waiter, covering his mouth and attempting to stop laughing. 

Colin, with his astonishing ability to control his laughter, slowed pretty quickly to a few chuckles and then cleared his throat and stopped..

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Colin said calmly. Ryan’s laughter turned into chuckles, and then he took in a deep breath and stopped altogether, like Colin. He turned back to see the waiter just grinning at the two of them.

“You two are so cute together,” The waiter said happily. Ryan and Colin both gave him surprised looks. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I just meant…” The waiter paused, seeming confused.

Ryan frowned. It seemed like quite a few people thought that. It was getting kind of annoying. Colin looked over at Ryan who just shrugged in response. 

“It’s okay,” Colin said. While he sounded mostly normal, Ryan noticed the slight undertones in his voice that showed that he really didn’t mean it. “Can we just order now? We both decided to have fish and chips.” 

“Sure. I’ll go get that for you.” The waiter quickly scribbled the order down in his book and gave the two of them an awkward glance. He seemed slightly flushed as he scurried away. 

Ryan sighed and reached over for the drinks, handing one to Colin. They were still in bottles and both quite cold, as if they had been refrigerated. He pulled off the cap and poured it into one of the glasses the waiter had bought over. 

“That’s getting kind of weird,” Colin said quietly after taking a sip of his ginger beer.

“What, the people thinking we’re a cute couple? Or just everything that’s happened so far?” Ryan replied, letting his annoyance seep into his tone.

“It’s not like he actually said that he thought we’d make a cute couple. He just said that we were cute. We should probably take that as a compliment,” Colin said. Ryan snorted.

“We both know what he meant. He was just careful enough not to let it slip,” Ryan said. “It’s probably why everyone was staring at us earlier.”

“I noticed. There’s not much we can do about it. It seems that saying ‘we are not a couple’ doesn’t change them thinking of us as a cute couple,” Colin replied thoughtfully.

“It's annoying. I wish they would just stop,” Ryan said, taking an angry sip of his ginger beer. 

“It's not as bad as my cousins wedding,” Colin said, smiling slightly. “It was like they had all agreed earlier that we were a couple. It was even worse when they decided we were going to be the next ones to get married.”

“I'm still not sure whether they were joking. I only went there for the food.” Ryan took a gulp of his ginger beer and sat it down on the table. 

“Same. That's the last time I try to get free food from a wedding. I think people getting married lose all their inhibitions for the day,” Colin replied.

“That might just be the alcohol, though,” Ryan said thoughtfully.

“Even before the wedding?” Colin asked. Ryan chuckled.

“Everyone knows that people drink before their weddings. They just don't like to talk about it,” Ryan replied. 

“Oh… So that's what she was drinking before the ceremony. I thought it was just some kind of detox thing,” Colin said, smirking. “Now I think about it, it did taste like alcohol.”

“You had some of it?” Ryan asked, surprised. Colin took a sip of his ginger beer to hide his grin.

“Only a little. She basically shoved it into my hands and ordered me to get rid of it before her mother arrived. Drinking it seemed like the best option,” Colin said with a shrug.

“Why didn’t she just pour it out? If it was only a small amount, no one would notice if the plants got some extra liquid,” Ryan asked, giving Colin a scrutinizing gaze. Colin shifted uncomfortably.

“Huh?” Colin said slowly. “I-I don’t know.” Colin rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling awkwardly. Ryan raised an eyebrow, leaning back with a knowing look on his face. He knew Colin was lying from the start. Colin had been pretty drunk at the wedding, even before the alcohol had been served. It was fun to watch Colin squirm.

“... Fine.” Colin said, pouting. “It might have been a little bit larger than I said. It doesn’t matter, right? I wasn’t that drunk.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Ryan asked, giving Colin a wicked smile. Colin groaned.

“Was I really so drunk I didn’t even notice? I thought it was the food that made me sick the next day,” Colin said. Ryan took a gulp of his ginger beer, attempting not to laugh. Colin turned to Ryan, looking confused. “Wait, didn’t you get sick as well? The main reason I thought it was the food was because both of us got sick.”

“I was a little bit drunk as well,” Ryan said, shrugging. “But not as much as you.”

“Both of us were drunk? How did we even get home?” Colin asked.

“Do you not remember? We caught a taxi home. The driver wasn’t very impressed with your singing,” Ryan replied. Colin’s eyes widened.

“Seriously? Please tell me I didn’t do that,” Colin said, looking at Ryan fearfully. Ryan smiled and stay silent for a second, enjoying his power over Colin. And then he shook his head.

“I was just kidding. You only started singing once we got home. My eardrums nearly died,” Ryan explained. Colin gave him an annoyed shove, but was still smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a little bit longer to make up for the last one being shorter. I should be back to updating every few days now(I hope). I would really appreciate feedback. :)


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more cute stuff, a game of questions only, and another assumption that they're couple.

“Hey! My singing isn’t that bad,” Colin said. 

“It’s worse when you’re drunk. It sounds like a cat being strangled,” Ryan said.

“Shut up,” Colin said, pretending to be angry. “You should be kinder to the person who got you a half price meal. Without me, you’d be at home having burnt toast and whining about how much you hate it.”

“I don’t whine,” Ryan replied. Colin raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I do. Weren’t you just offering to pay for my meal five minutes ago? What happened to you being nice?”

“That stopped when you insulted my singing abilities,” Colin said, a smile creeping back onto his face. Ryan chuckled. 

“I’m sorry then. Oh, please don’t take away my food, Master Colin,” Ryan said mockingly, pretending to beg. “Where would I be without your great acts of kindness?”

“Exactly,” Colin said, puffing up his chest. “You should be down at my feet, singing my praises.” Ryan snorted.

“No thanks. Your feet are smelly,” Ryan replied, scrunching up his nose.

“How would you know?” Colin said, frowning.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but we do spend a lot of time together,” Ryan said, smirking.

“Whatever. You don’t know for sure,” Colin said, taking a sip of his ginger beer. He stopped and looked closely at the bottle. “Hey, my drink is nearly finished. Can I have some of yours?” Ryan looked down at his half full bottle and nodded.

“Where is that waiter gone? I know he might be embarrassed, but we still need food,” Ryan said, peering out into the restaurant. Colin leaned over to Ryan and made an annoyed sound. Colin shoved Ryan back out of his way and crawled across his lap to see out into the restaurant. Ryan sighed.

“Is that really necessary? You could just ask me to move,” Ryan said, staring down at Colin. Colin was now stretched out across the booth with his top half resting on Ryan’s legs and was staring out into the restaurant. It was a strange sight. 

“Yes, it was necessary. This is much easier,” Colin replied, still shifting slightly as though he was trying to get comfortable. He ended up elbowing Ryan a few times, but Ryan was used to it.

“Are you sure about that?” Ryan asked. Colin slowly rolled over so he was on his back and shimmied down so his head was on Ryan’s lap.

“Of course I’m sure. I’m also sure that I’m super lazy and your legs are quite a nice pillow,” Colin said, looking up at Ryan with a smile.

“You are not going to have a nap on my legs in the middle of a restaurant, Colin,” Ryan said. However, he didn’t attempt to move Colin away. Colin smirked up at him. The two of them stared into each other eyes, as if issuing a challenge.

“Well, I can see what he meant. You two really are cute,” A voice said from outside of the booth. Ryan looked up to see a female waitress holding their food. When he saw it, he almost forgot that Colin was still lying down on his lap. But not quite. 

“Oh,” Ryan said, looking down at Colin. Colin grinned cheekily, as if he had known all along that this would happen. 

“I guess I don’t have to move now. She already knows I’m here. I wasn’t kidding when I said your legs are comfortable, Ryan. They’re like bony pillows,” Colin said, not moving. The waitress chuckled.

“I’m not sure that’s the right name for them, Colin,” Ryan replied, glaring down at Colin. “I don’t care how comfortable they are. We are in the middle of a restaurant.”

Colin groaned and sat up, attempting to tidy up his hair. He gave the waitress a grin, which just made her smile more. Ryan glowered, covering up his embarrassment with irritation.. 

“Why do you always have to disagree with me?” Ryan asked.

“Why don’t you let me sleep on your legs?” Colin replied, giving Ryan an amused look.

“Did you ever think it might be because we’re in the middle of a restaurant?” Ryan asked. And then he realised he’d accidently started the game that they played when they were bored. Three questions and then it started, no matter what the situation.

“Did you mean to start the questions game?” Colin asked, smirking. Ryan could see the waitress watching them, and felt a sense of competitiveness rising within him.

“Is the Pope catholic?” Ryan replied.

“Isn’t that cheating?” Colin asked.

“Wouldn’t you be a cheater if it was?” Ryan asked.

“How long do you want this to go on?” Colin asked.

“How long will it take for me to win?” Ryan replied.

“Who says you’re going to win?” Colin asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ryan asked.

“Maybe because I’m smarter?” Colin replied, smiling.

“Was that really a question?” Ryan asked.

“Wasn’t my tone clear enough?” Colin asked.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” Ryan asked.

“Are you sure you can win?” Colin asked.

“Is a lizard a reptile?” Ryan asked. Colin frowned.

“Are you sure that’s not cheating?” Colin asked.

“Is the Pope catholic?” Ryan replied smugly.

“Are you allowed to use the same question twice?” Colin asked.

“Didn’t you do it the last time we played?” Ryan asked.

“Did I?” Colin asked.

“Why wouldn’t you?” Ryan replied.

“Why - Oh, whatever. You can win. I’m hungry,” Colin said, giving in. “I’ll bet you next time.”

“Isn’t that what you said the last five times?” Ryan asked, grinning. Colin gave him a soft shove.

“Do you really want to continue?” Colin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I’m actually really hungry as well,” Ryan replied. He looked up at the waitress, who was placing their plates down on the table. It was fancy fish and chips, and like Colin had predicted it had a nice little side salad. To Ryan, it looked delicious. He had forgotten how hungry he was with all of Colin’s talking. 

“Are you sure you two are dating? Scratch that, are you sure you two aren’t married?” The waitress asked, looking at them with awe. 

“We’re just really good friends,” Ryan said, trying not to be annoyed. If this continued, he would have to get used to it. He really didn’t want that to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I uploaded this early because I was late with the other ones and I also got inspired to write. Hopefully I won't be late with the next chapter because of this, but I always write them last minute anyway. I really do appreciate feedback, it makes me want to write more. :)


	6. Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan tries to make Colin happier, and it turns out Colin really likes the food.

“Good friends that also happen to be dating?” The waitress asked. 

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually call people ‘friends’ if we’re dating,” Colin said, his tone neutral. The waitress stopped smiling.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you guys or anything,” The waitress said, looking embarrassed. “I suppose you guys already had enough of people telling you that.”

“Yes. We have,” Ryan said bluntly, giving the waitress a blank stare. He knew Colin was already about to accept her apology, so he reached under the table and grabbed Colin’s wrist, attempting to communicate that he shouldn’t reply. Colin seemed to have got the message because he didn’t speak.

“I’ll just come back when you guys have finished your food,” The waitress said awkwardly. She gave them one last scrutinizing stare before walking away from the table.

Ryan sighed, letting go of Colin’s wrist and picking up his knife and fork. He looked down at the meal in front of him, which was seeming slightly less appetising now. Still, he was hungry, so he begun to eat. 

“Maybe we should just pretend to be a couple with the next person,” Colin said, irritation clear in his tone. He stabbed his fork into one of his chips. “Then we won’t have to deal with them. I don’t like being rude to them.”

“I have a feeling that would just make it worse,” Ryan said, watching as Colin shoved some food into his mouth and stabbed at another chip. “There’s no need to take it out on your food.”

“It’s easier than taking it out on people. This way I don’t have to feel guilty afterward,” Colin said, glaring down at his plate. 

“Hey, we can’t both be angry,” Ryan said, softening his tone. “It’ll be boring if we’re both angry.” Colin paused for a second, still staring down at his food. He exhaled deeply, turning to look at Ryan.

“Fine. But as soon as we get the half-price desserts, we’re leaving,” Colin said. 

“Sounds good. The food isn’t actually that bad. I think I’ll like dessert,” Ryan said, taking a mouthful of his salad. Colin nodded, taking a more gentle stab at his chips.

“Yeah. I guess that’s an upside,” Colin said.

“And we got to see a baby,” Ryan said thoughtfully, trying to think of more positives of the night.

“I thought you didn’t like the baby?” Colin said, taking another bite of his food.

“It wasn’t that bad, I suppose. It was a lot better than the other babies I’ve seen,” Ryan said with a shrug. 

“Really?” Colin asked, looking at Ryan with disbelief. 

“Well… I was just saying it to make you feel better, but now I think about it, it was cool. I mean, I got to see you attempting to hold a baby,” Ryan said. He hadn’t exactly enjoyed the experience, but seeing Colin hold it had been pretty cute. It wasn’t nearly as annoying as everything else that had happened.

“Attempting? There was nothing wrong with how I held the baby,” Colin said with a frown. “I would like to see you try and hold a baby as well as I did.”

“Are you really trying to turn this into a competition?” Ryan asked, smiling.

“Maybe,” Colin said, taking another bite of his food. Ryan could see that Colin was beginning to smile. “But I mostly just want to see you trying to hold a baby. Though it might be good to have you practice on a cat first.”

“A cat?” Ryan asked, confused.

“Yeah, they’re warm and wriggly like babies are. They’re the perfect practice,” Colin said. 

“I suppose so. It just seems a little weird, holding an animal in practice for holding a child,” Ryan said, picking up some of his lettuce on his fork. He heard Colin make a strange noise and turned to look at him.

“Have you tried the fish yet?” Colin asked. He had a weird expression on his face that Ryan couldn’t quite decipher. 

“No? Does it taste bad or something?” Ryan replied, looking at Colin with concern.

“It tastes great! I don’t know what they did, but it’s cooked just right and the spices on it are amazing,” Colin said. Ryan cut off a piece of his fish to try it. 

Colin leaned in and stared at him with wide eyes, watching closely as Ryan raised the fork to eat. Ryan hesitated, stopping just before he put it in his mouth.

“Do you have to stare at me? It feels kind of weird,” Ryan said, lowering his fork to his plate. Colin’s eyes followed the fork down with disappointment.

“Why?” Colin asked. Ryan gave him a confused stare.

“Why wouldn't it?” Ryan asked, looking into Colin’s eyes. It took him a few seconds to realise how close they actually were. They were so close Ryan could feel Colin’s breath on his face. He shivered. 

Colin pulled away, staring at his food. Ryan continued to stare at Colin, wondering what had just happened. 

“Yeah. You really should try the fish. It's delicious,” Colin said quietly, taking a bite of his fish. His eyes never moved from his plate. Ryan exhaled softly, turning back to his food. He brought the fork back up and took a mouthful. 

It actually tasted really good. Not amazing, of course. But in terms of cheap family restaurant meals, it was fantastic. 

“It must be unhealthy. Nothing is this cheap and tastes this good,” Ryan said, hurriedly cutting off another piece of fish. 

“Does it really matter? If being unhealthy is the one of the costs, I'm ready to pay,” Colin said, licking his lips. 

“Did you just lick your lips?” Ryan asked incredulously. Colin shrugged and continued eating.

“I guess this food is just that good,” Colin replied through a mouthful of food.

“That's disgusting,” Ryan said, leaning away from Colin. Colin turned to him, opening up his mouth wide. Ryan winced.

“How about now?” Colin said, putting more food in his mouth and continue to chew loudly.

“Please stop,” Ryan said, holding up his hand to shelter himself from Colin. Colin leaned away and swallowed loudly.

“If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have done it,” Colin said with a grin. Ryan shook his head in disapproval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little while to finished this one. I didn't post it straight after I finished it like I usually do because I wrote it quite late at night and wanted to check it first. Thanks for all the comments/feedback. It makes me want to write more. :)


	7. Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more playful arguing and a discussion of Colin's notebook.

“You’re so disgusting,” Ryan said, holding his hand up to his face to hide his smile. He picked up some more food and put it in his mouth, purposefully showing he was chewing with his mouth closed. 

“Yet you still choose to put up with me. You must like it or something,” Colin said, a mischievous look on his face. Ryan backed away slightly.

“No, no, no. I definitely do not like it. Please don’t do anything else like that,” Ryan said, glancing at Colin nervously.

“Fine,” Colin said in a sad tone. “I’ll stop doing the disgusting things… for now.”

“For now? That sounds ominous,” Ryan replied uneasily. “It makes it sound as if you are going to come into my bedroom at night and start eating with your mouth open or something.”

“I’m not that mean. I know you need your beauty sleep,” Colin said fondly, patting Ryan lightly on the head. Ryan shook him off.

“I wouldn’t put it past you. You always continue jokes at the weirdest of times,” Ryan said. 

“I’m not that bad with my timing,” Colin replied, frowning. 

“What about the time you said you would stop trying to give me a whipped cream moustache and then you jumped on me when we were watching a movie three days later to try again?” Ryan said. 

“Well, I only did that because -” Colin begun to make an excuse when Ryan held up a hand to stop him.

“No. No excuses. There were other times as well, like the time you said you weren't going to try and get me to wear a fedora anymore and you -” Ryan said, still holding his hand up. Colin stopped him halfway through by holding one finger against Ryan's lip. Ryan frowned.

“I know, I know. I'm sorry for putting the fedora to your head whilst you were sleeping and taking pictures. I really wanted to see how it looked,” Colin explained, looking at Ryan with wide eyes. He reminded Ryan of a dog begging for forgiveness. Ryan lifted Colin's finger off his lips and narrowed his eyes.

“It would have been fine if it hadn't taken you an entire month to finish it,” Ryan said. “If you had only taken a few days I might have been more prepared.”

“That's the point! I don't want you to be prepared,” Colin replied. Ryan sighed.

“I suppose that's more reasonable. Though a month is quite a long time. How do you even remember?” Ryan asked, relaxing slightly. Colin smiled cheekily.

“I have a list,” Colin said, pulling his hand away from Ryan. He patted his pockets, as if looking for something. 

“A list?” Ryan echoed, a little surprised. He honestly thought Colin just had some insane memory for this kind of thing. Apparently not. Colin pulled out a small notebook that looked quite worn out. The cover was bent oddly and some of the pages appeared to have been folded. 

“Well, a list for you. For everyone else it's a sentence or two,” Colin said, flicking through the pages. He got about a third of the way through before he stopped. “Here it is.”

“Wait. You seriously have a list of all the jokes you want to remember to continue later? For specific people?” Ryan asked in a disbelieving tone. Colin nodded.

“I'm dedicated. Jokes always work out so much better when people don't expect you to do them,” Colin answered offhandedly. “And I have a list for you. Most people just have a a few sentences.”

“It can’t be that long,” Ryan said, peering over into the notebook. Colin snatched it away, holding it up to his chest.

“I want to read it out to you,” Colin explained. “I recorded the first one a week after we became friends, so it can be that long.”

“A week? How did you define us becoming friends?” Ryan asked, trying to think back to what he would define as them becoming friends. He couldn’t think an exact moment, it all kind of blended together.

“I’m not actually sure. It’s just that I wrote above it ‘Ryan - we became friends a week ago’. Then there’s a little smiley face next to it,” Colin said. 

“How nice of you,” Ryan said, smiling a little bit. He could imagine younger Colin scribbling that into the notebook. It was hard to believe there was a time when they hadn’t known each other. 

“I can only read some of the entries. Half of this book is filled with jokes I wanted to complete on you. There’s no way I can finished them all now.” Colin paused, looking down at his food. 

“Oh, I forgot about the food,” Ryan said, looking down at his own mostly finished meal. He shrugged. “We can eat later.”

“Yeah, let’s continue eating afterwards. This is more important,” Colin said. “Anyway, the first entry is of the time I tied all of your shoe’s shoelaces together every second day. I think I did it for a few weeks.”

“That was you? I had to spend an extra two minutes untying and retying my shoes every morning. I was so ready to tell someone off for that,” Ryan said, some residual irritation rising up in him. It may not seem like much time, but considering he used to oversleep a lot, every second was important. He could vividly remember cursing the person when he woke up to find his shoes in a mess. The fact that it was every second day had thrown him off as well.

“I really wanted you to get different shoes. I mean, I like them now, but when I first met you I was kind of horrified by your shoes,” Colin said, looking slightly apologetic. 

“What’s wrong with my shoes? I think they’re stylish,” Ryan said, showing off the particularly green shoes he was wearing right now. They didn’t look that weird. Colin raised an eyebrow.

“Sure. Definitely. I totally agree,” Colin said slowly, staring down at Ryan’s shoes. “They’re making a strong fashion statement. Have they got blue edges?”

“Yes,” Ryan replied proudly. Colin shook his head, smiling.

“They are so weird,” Colin said.

“I know. That’s why I wear them. Anyway, could we get back to reading your notebook?” Ryan asked, realising that Colin had only managed to read out one of the entries. Colin was right, there was no way they were going to get through them all. They would be lucky to get through three at this rate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to release this tomorrow but I wouldn't be able to post it until later in the day. I only just finished this chapter on time so I've only edited it once. I hope it's good enough. :) I really appreciate any feedback.
> 
> (The second update was because I edited it properly the next day, no major changes).


	8. Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more talking about Colin's 'jokes' and a meaningful moment.

“I’ll pick out one that you didn’t notice,” Colin said, scanning through the pages.

“How do you know for sure that I didn’t notice?” Ryan asked. “I could have noticed but just not told you.”

“No. You always tell me, whether you think I did it or not,” Colin answered confidently. “You like to complain to me.”

“I don’t do it that much,” Ryan said, trying to think of how often he did complain to Colin. He hadn’t really thought about it before. Colin never told him off for it, so why would he?

“Trust me, you do.” Colin said, not looking up from his notebook. “Here, I think I’ve found one that you won’t know about.” Ryan was still stuck on thinking about his supposed ongoing complaining. Now, he thought about it, he was usually pretty negative. Especially with Colin. 

He felt kind of guilty.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? Do you like listening to me go on about how much I dislike things?” Ryan asked, feeling confused. 

“It’s not like you complain all the time, Ryan. And most of the time I find it funny how much you hate things. I like listening to you talk,” Colin answered, turning to look up at Ryan. Ryan felt a twist in his stomach. 

“But..,” Ryan said weakly, struggling to find the words for what he wanted to say. Luckily, Colin seemed to understand.

“Look, I don’t mind that you talk negatively a lot. It’s part of your personality. Truthfully, I think it’s kinda cute,” Colin said, keeping his tone light. “Can we move on now?” Colin stared directly at Ryan, his eyes showing the seriousness he was feeling. Ryan nodded slowly.

“Okay,” Ryan said. Colin reached out his hand and grabbed onto Ryan’s, intertwining their fingers. Colin gave Ryan’s hand a reassuring squeeze as he turned back to his notebook. Ryan relaxed slightly.

“This one is part of a story. So you know the time that we went to stay at a hotel, right? That cheap one that was only a few hours away from where we lived? That hotel had this weird service where you could get them to change the shade of the sheets you had. It was on their information pamphlet which you didn’t bother to read,” Colin said, giving Ryan a knowing smile. 

“I remember reading the title..,” Ryan said, trying to recall whether he had read any more of it. He usually didn’t. 

“I remember you dropping it into the bin two seconds after that,” Colin said. Ryan smiled guiltily, and looked down at Colin and his hands. He brushed his thumb gently over the back of Colin’s hand and waited for him to continue.

“Anyway, so I called them up and asked them if they could change the colour of the sheets when we went out. They seemed kind of surprised when I said I only wanted it a single shade lighter, considering they had so many colours,” Colin said with a chuckle. “I said I would tip them an extra three dollars for each time it was done, which is quite a lot considering they only wanted me to pay a dollar in the first place. They asked then if I would be doing it again, so I decided to explain it to them. I told them that I was planning to change the sheets progressively each day to a darker tone to see how long it would take you to notice. ”

“I thought something had changed,” Ryan said. 

“I remember you telling me that you thought there was something wrong with your room and I was worried you'd found out. You said it must have just been the lights or something,” Colin said, smiling.

“How often did you get them to change it? It must have been quite often to get it to be a noticeably different colour,” Ryan said thoughtfully. He couldn't remember what colour it had been when he left. He hadn't cared at the time, he had just wanted to enjoy a holiday with Colin.

“I gave up halfway through,” Colin said simply.

“Really? Why?” Ryan asked. “I know you like to get really invested in those kind of things.”

“I was going to continue..,” Colin said slowly, as if he was trying to think of what to say. “Well, we went out to a cafe, that little corner one that had those amazing hot chocolates. I was just sitting there listening to you talk and I…” Colin trailed off, looking at Ryan fondly. “I decided that I didn't need to continue with it anymore. It was taking up extra time which I could have spent hanging out with you.”

“Wow. I should go on holidays with you more often, then. Maybe I could get you to stop it once and for all,” Ryan said with a teasing smile. Colin gave him a gentle bump with his shoulder. 

“Well I got the sheets to change from white to yellow by that point so I still accomplished something,” Colin said with a smirk.

“I thought your only accomplishment was making me happy,” Ryan said, his smile growing into a grin.

“Shut up,” Colin said, his smile matching Ryan's. “I was being nice and this is what I get? I guess that's not happening again.” Ryan paused for a moment, looking down at his and Colin's intertwined hands. 

“Thanks,” Ryan murmured, giving Colin's hand a soft squeeze. Colin squeezed back.

“Your welcome,” Colin replied. The two of them stayed silent for a moment, listening to the chatter of the restaurant and enjoying a moment of peace together. Ryan exhaled softly, a sense of happiness glowing inside of him. He looked over at Colin, who appeared to have been staring at him, and smiled. Colin smiled back in response and looked away, down at his food. 

If Ryan didn’t know Colin, he would have thought Colin had been embarrassed. Ryan brushed it off as Colin begun to speak.

“I don’t think we’ll be finishing our food tonight,” Colin said, breaking the silence. “Unless you feel like eating cold fish.” 

Ryan looked down at his plate in surprise, having forgotten completely about his food. There wasn’t that much left, just enough for it to seem like a waste to leave behind.

“Do you think this restaurant will let us take it home? I wouldn’t mind having it as leftovers later,” Ryan said. 

“I guess it’s a good thing it’s a family restaurant then. Children hardly ever finish their meals, so they’ll let us take it,” Colin said. Ryan struggled to contain his smile, finding the situation slightly ironic.

“A normal restaurant would probably let us do that as well, Colin,” Ryan replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a few days late. I was super tired and struggled to get it long enough. Oh well, it's here now and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll try and get the next one up on the right time, but I've been tired lately. I will be up in another 5 days at the latest.
> 
> I hope you guys like it and I really appreciate any feedback. It really does help me keep writing. :)


	9. Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cute disagreement, and the waiter returns.

Colin slowly grinned, giving Ryan a look that clearly said ‘Oh, really?’. Ryan narrowed his eyes in response, straightening up to show that he was standing his ground. Colin leaned back slightly, as if mocking Ryan. Colin began to blink slowly, like a cat would, smugness oozing out from him. Ryan frowned.

“Don’t disagree with me,” Ryan ordered, glaring at Colin. Colin grinned wider, making Ryan even more annoyed.

“I didn’t say anything,” Colin said. He took a very long, slow blink. Ryan pulled back, looking at Colin with a mix of shock and disgust.

“You know you’re not allowed to do that, Colin,” Ryan said warningly. Colin hesitated for a second.

“Do what?” Colin asked. 

“You know what. You aren’t allowed to say that you didn’t say anything after we’ve had a silent conversation. It’s against the rules,” Ryan growled. Ryan gently tugged his hand away from Colin’s and folded his arms stubbornly. Colin watched in surprise, a look of dismay appearing on his face. It was exactly the effect Ryan had hoped it would have.

“What rules?” Colin said quietly, trying to hide the fact that he was sulking. Ryan puffed up his chest slightly, looking down on Colin. Colin didn’t look back up at Ryan like he usually would. Even though Ryan knew Colin was playing him, he couldn’t stop the seed of guilt sprouting in his chest. 

Ryan sighed and unfolded his arms. He grabbed onto Colin’s hand again, threading their fingers together.

“The rules of our friendship,” Ryan said, smirking slightly. Colin looked up at Ryan, the same small smirk mirrored on his face. The two of them gave each other confused stares.

“We can’t both be smug,” Colin said. “That’s not how arguments work.” 

“Too bad,” Ryan said, a smile growing on his face. He leaned back slightly and repeated the slow cat-like blink that Colin had done earlier. Colin gave Ryan an annoyed shove.

“Don’t use my own actions against me,” Colin said with a frown. Ryan squeezed Colin’s hand, making Colin look down at their intertwined hands again. Colin leaned over and rested his head on Ryan’s shoulder, his tense muscles slowly relaxing. Ryan adjusted his position slightly so it would be more comfortable for Colin.

“What were we arguing about?” Ryan asked after a brief pause, tracing the back of Colin’s hand with his thumb. Colin tilted his head, attempting to look up at Ryan. 

“Nothing. Like normal,” Colin replied, his smile distinct in his tone. Ryan was just about to relax when he noticed someone approaching their booth. It was the waiter they had at the start, and he was looking oddly determined. Ryan gave Colin a nudge and inclined his head in the direction of the waiter. Colin glanced over at the waiter and then placed his head back down on Ryan’s shoulder.

“I don’t care,” Colin muttered, staring down at the table. Ryan nodded. He understood Colin’s nonchalant feelings, but he couldn’t help the small fragments of anxiousness expanding within him. He decided to focus more on the warmth radiating out from Colin. 

The waiter walked right up to their booth, his determination dissolving for a second as he saw Ryan and Colin. He furrowed his eyebrows, but then abandoned his curiosity and replaced it with a resolute expression. Despite his seriousness, he still managed to keep a smile.

“Hi,” The waiter said, clasping his hands together. “I’ve come to check if you guys are done with your meals?” 

The waiter’s question was met by an awkward pause, as Colin refused to look at him. Ryan chewed on his lip and decided he would have to be the one to talk.

“We have finished eating, but we were wondering if your restaurant would allow us to take the rest of the food home,” Ryan said, reaching out one hand to nudge his plate. “It was really good.” Ryan added. His eyes darted up to the waiter, trying to gauge his reaction. Ryan hadn’t meant to add that, but he’d said it now so there was nothing he could do about it. 

“I’ll be sure to tell the chef. I'll try and see if we have some containers for you guys to take your food. If there’s none I’ll just get some paper bags,” The waiter said. He hovered for a second, and then began to turn away. Ryan stopped him.

“Hey, wait. I was wondering if we could order dessert? That way you can get the containers and put our orders in,” Ryan asked. The waiter paused and slowly turned back to Ryan. He gave Ryan an analysing stare, and then nodded to himself. The smile on the waiter’s face grew slightly, seeming more real than the one he had fixed on before. 

“Sure. What do you want?” The waiter asked, pulling his little notebook out of his pocket. Ryan struggled to remember what the options had been on the menu. There must have been some kind of chocolate sundae, right? Restaurants always had them. But what if there wasn’t?

“We want the apple pie with vanilla ice cream,” Colin said, not bothering to move his head off Ryan’s shoulder. The waiter nodded and scribbled down their order. 

“Okay, I’ll go and sort your stuff out. I’ll be back with those containers soon,” The waiter said. He seemed more happy then he had been at the start of the conversation, though he still appeared to be uneasy. He moved away from the table and disappeared back into the restaurant. 

Colin sighed, shifting a little so he was more comfortable. Ryan squeezed Colin’s hand, offering reassurement. Colin squeezed back.

“That went better than I expected,” Ryan muttered, relaxing his muscles which he hadn’t realised he had tensed. 

“I didn’t think it was going to go badly. He’s a very convincing guy, even though he wasn’t exactly trying to be,” Colin said. “Didn’t you notice that he smiles all the time?”

“Of course I did. One of the first things I thought when I met him was whether his face hurt from smiling so much,” Ryan replied, smiling a little. Colin chuckled.

“Yeah, me too. Maybe he smiles so often that he’s just gotten used to it,” Colin said, causing Ryan’s smile to grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one done. I'm sorry it's taking me longer than usual, I've just been pretty tired lately(and procrastinating). I really appreciate any feedback. :)


	10. Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some (more?) teasing, and Colin asks Ryan to marry him(but not really).

“Or maybe he is really just dreaming about work finally ending,” Ryan said, knowing it probably wasn’t true. If it was Ryan, that is exactly what he’d be doing. However, he had a feeling that a smile like that couldn’t really be faked, even with elaborate dreams of work being over.

“I don’t think so. A smile like that couldn’t be pretend. It seems crazy, but I think he is one of the few restaurant waiters that truly loves his job,” Colin said, sighing softly. “If it were me though, that’s what I’d be doing. Dreaming of work being over so I could hang out with you.” 

“Oh, really?” Ryan replied, looking down at Colin. Colin tried to hide his grin. Ryan raised an eyebrow and shook his head. 

“Yes, really. That’s all I do, all the time. I sit and stare out the window, counting down the seconds until we can be re-united,” Colin said dramatically. Ryan pushed Colin’s head off his shoulder, smirking at Colin’s surprised look.

“Shut up,” Ryan said simply. He knew Colin was just trying to be annoying, and it always worked. It also always made them both smile, which Ryan either found more irritating or strangely pleasing. Colin won either way.

“But it’s true!” Colin exclaimed, looking up at Ryan with wide eyes. “All I want is for us to be together, forever! I can not bear us to be apart any longer!” 

“Are you asking me to marry you?” Ryan asked. Colin froze in his spot and then basically scrambled away from Ryan. Ryan was extremely proud of his ability to keep a serious face as he stared down Colin. 

“N-No! Of course not! Why would I - you - how…. No.” Colin said, his eyes a different kind of wide than before. He seemed terrified. Ryan let a smile grow on his face, which soon transformed into a grin at Colin’s continued terror. 

“You know, I’d have to decline,” Ryan said, trying to keep up his cool facade. It was basically impossible with his grin, but otherwise he totally would have gotten Colin. “I have a rule that I can’t marry someone who I haven’t dated first.” Ryan looked over at Colin smugly, watching as Colin took in his words. Ryan could see the wheels spinning in Colin’s head as the gears gently clicked into place. 

Suddenly, Colin got this light-bulb look on his face. He blinked slowly, calmly, and moved back closer to Ryan. Ryan inhaled sharply, preparing for Colin’s next attack.

“What counts as a date?” Colin asked, his voice smooth and equal. A grin crept onto Colin’s face and Ryan fought the urge to move away. “Because, if you go by the definition, we’ve been dating for a very long time. Easily long enough to get married.” Ryan felt that same kind of fear he had seen on Colin’s face earlier snap onto his own face. He still managed not to scramble away, like Colin had. 

Instead, he lifted his hand up out of Colin’s to Colin’s face. In a very short amount of time, he brought his hand forward and clamped his palm over Colin’s mouth. He could feel Colin frowning against his hand.

“You can’t say that so loudly,” Ryan hissed, his eyes looking out at the restaurant accusingly. “What if someone heard you say that? What if they announced it to the whole restaurant?” Ryan tensed up, waiting for Colin’s reply. He waited. And waited. And waited. 

He turned back to Colin, looking confused. Colin rolled his eyes, and very strange mumbling noises came from his mouth. Ryan felt a weird sensation on his hand, and then remembered his hand was over Colin’s mouth. He pulled his hand away and looked down at it with disgust.

“You got your saliva on my hand!” Ryan scrunched up his nose and wiped his hand on Colin’s t-shirt, trying to dry it off. Colin chuckled.

“Well, earlier it seemed like you wanted my saliva in your mouth, but I guess this is close enough,” Colin said. Ryan looked at Colin with shock. “What, too real for you? It’s alright, I won’t tell anyone that you wanted us to go on a real date.” 

“I never said that,” Ryan said, feeling scandalised by Colin’s accusations. Colin appeared unaffected by the content of what he was saying and that he was actually saying that Ryan had wanted to go on a date with Colin, himself. And then Ryan realised earlier he had accused Colin of wanting to marry him. 

Ryan covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. This evening had been so weird. How had it even ended up as this?

“Wow, you really do want my saliva in your mouth,” Colin said with a chuckle. Ryan reached out one hand and shoved it onto Colin’s face, somehow managing to have surprising accuracy despite not looking. 

“Shut up,” Ryan said. “Could we just move on?” Ryan pulled his hands away from face, looking out into the restaurant and desperately hoping the waiter would magically appear. Sadly, no waiter materialised in front of them and Ryan was forced to face a grinning Colin.

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with teasing earlier, when I was the one getting teased,” Colin said, folding his arms and puffing up his chest. Ryan narrowed his eyes.

“Well, it’s not like you complained,” Ryan replied, folding his arms as well. He leaned back slightly, as if to seem nonchalant. Colin flushed slightly. 

“Well... that’s because you caught me off guard, of course. You can’t expect me to be perfect,” Colin said, his eyes looking away from Ryan, down to the table. 

“Oh, really?” Ryan asked, smirking at Colin’s obvious nervousness. Ryan knew he was on to something here.

“Fine, I’ll stop teasing you,” Colin said, looking back up to Ryan. “You are so annoying.” Colin sighed and turned away, glancing at Ryan sideways. Colin had a small smile on his face, so Ryan could tell he meant it fondly, but still in an annoyed way. The way Ryan always was when they had teasing arguments.

“Did I just… win?” Ryan asked, slightly stunned. 

“No,” Colin said without hesitation. Ryan smiled.

“I did! I never knew all I had to do was just question everything you did. This is amazing,” Ryan said with excitement. Colin shook his head in amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took for ages. I just haven't been feeling particularly motivated for this story(though I love what I've written so far, it's just difficult to keep it up). I wrote most of this chapter in one day, so I hope it's okay. I really appreciate feedback, and I'll try to keep writing more but I'm not sure how quickly it'll get written. :)


	11. Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An oddly tense moment and the baby makes a re-appearance. I think it's what we all wanted.

“Whatever. Could the waiter hurry up with that dessert? I’d prefer to get away from you as soon as I can,” Colin grumbled, looking out into the restaurant. 

“Don’t you mean here?” Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes at Colin. Colin paused, as if mulling it over. He furrowed his eyebrows, continuing to ‘think it over’ for a few more seconds. Ryan gave him a shove, making Colin snap out of it.

“Huh? Oh, right. Of course,” Colin said, nodding repeatedly. Ryan sighed. 

“Colin,” Ryan said slowly, dragging out each individual letter. Colin turned and looked at him with wide eyes, as if an electric shock had just gone through him.

“What?” Colin asked carefully, staring at Ryan.

“Nothing. I just wanted you to pay attention to me,” Ryan replied, smirking slightly. Colin frowned seeming slightly worried. After a few moments, he shook his head and wiped the worried expression from his face, replacing it with a smile that was too big to be real.

“Greedy. I always knew you were an attention seeker,” Colin said after a few moments. His smile returned to it’s natural look. 

“I’m not greedy, I’m bored! And if you’re going to say such rude thing like that to your bestest friend in the world… Well, maybe you’re going to have to find a new best friend,” Ryan said in a childish tone, pretending to stick his nose up in the air. Colin chuckled.

“B-But Ryan, how could I ever survive without my ‘bestest friend in the whole world’?” Colin replied mockingly. Ryan paused, staring at Colin with wide eyes. 

“... I’m your bestest friend in the whole world?” Ryan asked, purposefully changing his expression and tone so he seemed serious and slightly sad. “I… I always thought…” Ryan trailed off, keeping his eyes locked onto Colin’s. He could see Colin hesitating, as if wondering whether Ryan was faking. Ryan pulled the act up a notch, looking away and keeping his eyes downcast. Colin’s hesitation faded.

“Ryan?” Colin asked softly, the same way he often did when attempting to coax Ryan into talking. Ryan fought the urge to look at Colin, instead taking in a slow trembling breath. 

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing,” Ryan said weakly, keeping his eyes locked on the floor. Colin moved closer reaching out one hand towards Ryan’s shoulder. Colin gently grabbed him and turned Ryan towards him, forcing him to look up at his eyes. 

Ryan froze, his heart rate rising. Colin was so close… His eyes, he was looking at Ryan with concern - a concern that Ryan could tell was faked, but for some reason it made Ryan’s stomach flip. Both of them stayed still, like magnets that were both drawn together and forced apart at the same time.

“Ryan…”

\----

A loud sound of a plate smashing behind them made Ryan jump back, nearly going far enough back to fall of the seat. He wasn’t bothered by this, he was too busy looking at Colin, his insides twisting in fear and confusion. What was going on with them? A few suggestion of being a couple and now they just can’t seem to keep their hands off of each other?

Ryan cleared his throat, resolutely dispelling the thoughts from his mind. Colin was staring at Ryan with a strange intensity, but Ryan ignored him. He looked out to the restaurant to see what had happened. 

As soon as his eyes locked onto the scene, a toddler started wailing. Ryan could see the toddler being pulled away from the shattered plate by it’s mother. He realised it was the same baby from earlier, the one that had been under their table when they arrived. 

The mother placed the child down, away from the plate and marched back over. She was angry, he could see it in her clenched fists and red face. She begun to shout at the waitress, but Ryan tuned it out. Instead, he focused on the baby. 

The mother had said Jeffrey, right? Jeffrey was crawling towards their booth at a surprisingly fast pace for a baby, a determined expression on that looked incredibly cute on his small face. Within ten seconds, he was less than a few steps away from Ryan and was holding up one hand demandingly.

“I think he wants you to pick him up,” Colin said from behind him. Ryan hesitated, uncertain in his own ability to hold a toddler correctly.

“Maybe you should do it. Didn’t you say I should practice on a cat first?” Ryan replied, gently grabbing Jeffrey’s out stretched hand and attempting to lead him around to Colin. Jeffrey shook his head stubbornly and remained where he was.

“Yeah, but that was when I thought we weren’t going to see another baby for at least a few months. The best way to learn how to hold a baby is to hold a baby, shockingly,” Colin answered. Jeffrey was trying to climb up Ryan’s jeans now, pulling at the fabric uncomfortably. 

“I guess I can try…,” Ryan said, reaching down and putting his hands around the baby’s torso and lifting, like he had seen Colin do earlier. It was much easier than he thought it would be, especially since Jeffrey seemed very happy just to be held by him. He put Jeffrey down on his lap, deciding that would be the easiest and least tiring way to hold him.

“Cute,” Colin said, holding out his hand to Jeffrey. “Well done, Ryan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally updating? I know, I'm shocked too. But it's getting quite late and I have stuff to do tomorrow, so I think I'll leave being shocked for tomorrow. Thank you guys all for reading and I love all the comments you guys leave(they really inspire me!). I hope you enjoy it! :D
> 
> (Also, imagine being a writer and leaving yourself on that cliff-hanger. I honestly half-laughed half-cried for about a minute before sucking it up and writing more. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more chapters out soon with this new inspiration!)


	12. Part 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arguing and Ryan wearing high heels. Don't ask, he'll get embarrassed.

“Well done? It sounds like I’ve won an award or something,” Ryan replied. Jeffrey had latched onto Colin’s hand and was tugging at his fingers. “Does that hurt?” 

“Does what - Oh. Um… Not really. I don’t think he’s quite strong enough yet to really hurt me. It feels more like a terrible hand massage.” Colin wriggled his fingers, making Jeffrey’s little hands move up and down with the movement. Jeffrey frowned and pulled harder, obviously trying to make Colin stop.

“Be careful,” Ryan warned, his eyes searching Jeffrey’s face for any sign that he might start crying. Remembering that they were basically babysitting a child without the parents permission, Ryan glanced back over to the mother. She was still fuming, her foot tapping at the ground impatiently as she waited next to the booth. Obviously she was waiting for the manager or some other form of authority.

“He’s fine. If he was really upset he would have made that weird crinkled up expression that babies do before they start crying. You know, the one the makes them look like old angry tomatoes?” 

“Are you really comparing babies to old tomatoes?” Ryan asked incredulously. 

“Of course. It’s not like they understand it anyway,” Colin answered, wriggling his fingers again. Jeffrey pouted and tugged more insistently, pulling Colin’s hand closer to him so he could continue without interruption.

“I wish he did. That way I could see you make the exact same expression you described, but perhaps with a little less anger.” Ryan turned away to hide his smirk, ignoring Colin’s gasp of shock.

“Are you calling me an old tomato, Ryan?!” Colin said, his hand going limp in little Jeffrey’s grasp. Jeffrey seemed delighted, immediately digging into his new mission with a new found energy. It really was starting to look like Jeffrey was attempting a hand massage.

“Maybe,” Ryan said slyly, struggling to keep his smile from turning into an all-out grin. Colin made a sound that resembled a growl and used his free hand to cover up his face.

“I thought we were friends..,” Colin mumbled into his palm. Jeffrey was staring up at Colin with a confused expression. He dropped Colin’s hand and reached up to him, making grabbing motions with his hands. Colin peered out from his hand-mask and noticed Jeffrey’s movements.

“I think he wants you to hold him now,” Ryan said with a chuckle. 

“I can see that,” Colin grumbled, but picked up Jeffrey off of Ryan’s lap anyway. Colin placed the baby down softly on his own lap. Ryan and Colin both stared at him, uncertain as to what to do next. Jeffrey’s bottom lip began to wobble as he looked up into Colin's eyes, his own brown eyes widening strangely.

“Oh no. He doesn’t look happy,” Ryan said fearfully. He scanned his surroundings for something that might help, but too much of his attention was on the baby for him to come up with a plan.

“What do we do?!” Colin whispered back urgently. Jeffrey’s face was going more red by the second. His face began to crinkle up and Ryan has a split second to think, ‘Colin was right, he really does look like an old angry tomato,’ before Colin grabbed onto his t-shirt and pulled him over.

“Colin!” Ryan hissed, but he was ignored. Colin pulled Ryan's arm out, wrapping it around himself. And Jeffrey, Ryan realised. Jeffrey, who still looked like a old angry tomato, but with less of the age and less of the anger.

Ryan relaxed slightly, still hyper aware of the fact that he was basically cuddling Colin and a baby in a public space. If anyone walked by and saw them right now, Ryan felt like he might just sink into the floor and stay there for the rest of his horribly embarrassing life. 

“What should we do now?” Colin mumbled, his breath warming Ryan’s face as Colin turned to face him. 

“I think we need to distract him,” Ryan replied, shifting so he could get more comfortable. His arms were looped around Colin, one lying on his shoulders and the other supporting Jeffrey’s back, his head resting on Colin’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I guessed that,” Colin said in an irritated tone. “What do you think I was trying to do?” 

“Well I didn’t know! All I knew is that he was going to cry and suddenly you were hauling me onto your lap,” Ryan growled in reply. Colin flushed, looking angry.

“Stop being so dramatic! I was just trying to get you over here before he started wailing. What else did you want me to do?!” 

“I don’t know, warn me? It’s not like you can just suddenly do that to someone, Colin. I could have accidentally hurt Jeffrey!” Ryan closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and waiting for Colin’s reply. He could feel his anger spitting and hissing in his chest though he knew it was mostly just a reaction to his embarrassment and discomfort at being close to Colin like this for so long.

Wait, why hadn’t Colin replied yet? Usually he was pretty quick to make some annoying remark about how ‘dramatic’ or ‘stupid’ Ryan was being. Ryan opened up his eyes to see Jeffrey making his wobbly lip expression again.

“Well you know what, Ryan? I think Jeffrey likes us arguing! We should really continue this argument before he begins crying!” Colin said in an angry tone. Ryan blinked for a few moments, struggling to keep up with what was happening.

“Oh yeah, Colin?” Ryan replied shakily, clearing his throat. “Well I think that’s a dumb idea! It’s almost as dumb as that time you tried to make me wear high heels!” Colin’s eyes went wide as he covered up his mouth to stop laughter. Ryan elbowed him lightly.

“Don’t insult my ideas, Ryan. You looked amazing in those high heels,” Colin hissed, watching Jeffrey’s excited expression. Jeffrey seemed enthralled by the fake arguing, clapping his hands every so often as if attempting to urge them on.

“I’m already tall enough, Colin. I looked about as good as you did when you wore that hot dog t-shirt,” Ryan growled, enjoying Colin’s hurt expression. He deserved it. The injuries Ryan got from trying to walk in the high heels stayed around for weeks.

“You know I loved that hot dog t-shirt, Ryan. If you’re allowed to insult the sacred hot dog t-shirt, then I can finally insult that stupid pen you always had! It was obnoxious and it didn’t even work! Who carries a bright red broken jelly pen around with them, Ryan?! Who does that?!” Colin said painfully. Ryan frowned digging his elbow into Colin’s shoulder and lifting his head up so he could properly look at Colin. 

They were super close again.

Dammit.

Ryan put his head back down, trying to calm down his annoying rapid beating heart and desperately trying to ignore the fact that he had _definitely_ heard a hitch in Colin’s breathing. 

No, no, no, no, no! Why does this kinda stuff have to happen to him?! Shut up, Ryan. Breath. Move away.

Ryan pulled back, untangling himself from Colin and Jeffrey. He refused to look at either of them, knowing that seeing their expressions would be too much for him.

“Um… I gotta go to the bathroom,” Ryan said lamely, pulling away from the table and walking away from the booth. He set off in the direction of the back of the restaurant, hoping the bathroom would be free. He really needed to splash some water in his face and snap out of it. 

“Wow, you look… Um… Did something happen?” A voice asked from in front of him. He looked up slowly to see the waiter giving him a concerned smile. He always smiles.

“I just need to go to the bathroom,” Ryan said tiredly. The waiter nodded, immediately taking a hold of Ryan’s arm and leading him.

“I’m sorry your dessert hasn’t been brought over yet. We’ve just been a little busy with a - um… Customer service complaint,” The waiter told Ryan.

“You mean that angry mother? Her child wandered back over to us again,” Ryan said, chuckling at the waiter’s surprised expression.

“That kid really seems to like you two. Here’s the bathroom, I’m gonna go get that complaint sorted and send someone to bring over your dessert in the meantime,” The waiter replied, releasing Ryan’s arm with a friendly pat and wandering off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only partially edited. As always, I really appreciate every single comment from you guys! This chapter is a little bit longer than usual(you're welcome). I don't know when more will be coming out but I do have a little bit of a plan forming in my head as I write more, but it's still a bit vague. Oh well. 
> 
> I hope you guys liked it! :D


	13. Part 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Colin become professional babysitters, along with discovering that Jeffrey was secretly a mutant all along...

Ryan pushed open the door, quickly scanning the room for any other occupants. Luckily for him, it was completely empty. There were two toilet stalls as well as two sinks, one tall one and one short one, which he supposed was for children. It was quite smart really.

Ryan wandered up to the sink and turned the tap on, letting the cold water run over his hands for a moment while he attempted to regain his senses. Was he really hiding from his problems in a bathroom? 

He felt kinda guilty for just ditching Colin and Jeffrey, but at the same time felt relieved. He really just needed to be alone for sometimes and clear his head. It was calmer in here, quieter. With the water flowing over his hands and the sound of people dulled by the door of the bathroom, he could finally think.

But what was he trying to think about?

Colin, and that strange feeling Ryan got in his stomach whenever he and Colin got too close. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? Maybe it was the fact that they were in public this time, or maybe it was just everyone planting the idea in his head.

Or maybe he was just too dumb to realize what was right in front of him.

The more important question was what was he going to do about it? He knew what he wanted to do, but just going up and kissing Colin wouldn’t solve all of his problems... Or would it?

Surely Colin felt the same way, or at least something similar. He hadn’t pushed Ryan away when they got within an inch of each other, in fact, it even seemed as if he had wanted Ryan to be close to him. Ryan hadn’t really considered how much they touched each other, but now he thought about it seemed more than what might be normal.

Ryan smiled, a plan forming in his head. He splashed some of the water on his face and turned the tap off. He quickly dried off and exited the bathroom, strolling across the restaurant with a new-found confidence. 

When he got back to the booth, he found Colin holding Jeffrey still on the table, staring intensely into his eyes.

“- understand? I can’t just do that, you know. I mean, who - Oh, hello Ryan,” Colin said, breaking his eye contact with Jeffrey to give Ryan a shaky smile. He cleared his throat and lifted Jeffrey off of the table and back onto his lap. Jeffrey looked completely relaxed, so much that Ryan would have assumed he was sleepy if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes were still wide open.  
“His mother came over while you were away. She, um… gave me some money? Apparently, we are now proper babysitters,” Colin added, pointing at the small pile of crumpled notes on the table. 

“Another thing to add to my resume, I suppose,” Ryan replied with a chuckle. “Though I’m not sure how good ‘babysitted once at a restaurant’ would sound.”

“Well, you can’t you say it like that, Ryan. You’ve got to sell it,” Colin said, shifting so Jeffrey could get more comfortable. Jeffrey was beginning to look tired now, which Ryan admitted was completely adorable. He wriggled a little and stopped to gaze at Ryan, his brown eyes shimmering. 

Ryan forced himself to focus on the conversation instead.

“Sell it how? I’m not sure anything could make it sound like something an employer might want to hear.” 

“... I suppose. Maybe I would get better results if I just added a picture of the Bambi eyes of his. Earlier he tried to convince me to give him the money with those,” Colin replied, pretending to frown at Jeffrey. Jeffrey didn’t notice since he was too busy trying to prove Colin’s point. Ryan forced himself to focus on the conversation once again.

“How did you get him to stop?” Ryan asked, resisting the urge to close his eyes. Was Jeffrey trying to get the money off of him now? Should Ryan just… give in?

“Uh..,” Colin answered, chuckling nervously. “Well.”

“Colin,” Ryan said, half-warning and half desperate. He could see Jeffrey’s lower lip trembling and was struggling not to give in. How did this child have so much power over him?! Focus, Ryan! It’s just a baby… Yes, one with an amazingly cute puppy-dog face, but still just a baby! 

“I might’ve… Kind of… Just… Given him the money?” Colin said hesitantly. There was a brief pause in which Ryan digested this information. Jeffrey let out a small gurgling sound.

Ryan turned to Colin, his eye’s accusing. Colin immediately tensed.

“It’s not my fault! Have you seen how he looks? He - He, He’s secretly a mutant! It wasn’t my fault! He used his scary mutant baby-powers on me!” Colin said, cringing away when Ryan leaned closer. 

“Really?” Ryan asked simply, shifting closer to Colin. Colin couldn’t move away without risking upsetting Jeffrey, so Colin was forced to adjust to Ryan.

“Y - Yeah… The, um, mutant powers,” Colin murmured weakly, keeping his eyes well away from Ryan’s. “He’s a mutant baby. I think he might be one of the x-men…” 

Ryan pulled away, laughing a little. 

“Mutant baby… If we ever see Jeffrey when he’s older I think it’ll be really hard to explain to him how we know him,” Ryan said thoughtfully. “Oh, I think our dessert has arrived.”

“Dessert?” Colin said, perking up at the thought. Jeffrey looked up at him, probably wondering what all the fuss was about. 

“I’m sorry it took so long,” The waiter said, putting the plates down in front of them. A small amount of steam was rising off the apple pie and Ryan could feel his mouth water. 

“That looks so good,” Ryan mumbled, picking up a spoon. The waiter chuckled. 

“I’m glad you like it. Do you want me to look after the baby while you two eat? I’m quite used to taking care of children for customers by now, it wouldn’t be a problem,” He said, locking eyes with Jeffrey. Ryan dropped his spoon and held up his hands to block Jeffrey’s gaze.

“Don’t look into his eyes!” Ryan hissed, catching the waiter’s attention. The poor man looked stunned by Ryan’s actions, so Ryan withdrew his hands back uneasily. “Sorry, it’s um…” 

“He has Bambi eyes,” Colin explained for him, nodding enthusiastically. “He corrupts you with them. We think it might be his mutant power.”

“You aren’t meant to tell him that, Colin,” Ryan said, frowning. 

“Why not? If Jeffrey really is a mutant, he has a right to know,” Colin answered, matching Ryan’s frown.

“It’s okay,” The waiter said, clearing his throat. “Um… Thank you for telling me about his, uh, mutant powers. Those eye’s of his really are enchanting.”

“You’re welcome,” Colin said happily, grinning at the waiter. The always-smiling waiter widened his smile in response.

“So, do you want me to take little baby Jeffrey?” 

“We’re good, thanks,” Colin said, nodding slightly. “I think he’s gonna fall asleep soon anyway.”

“Okay. That just leaves the bill then. You just need to go up to the front after you’ve finished and tell them your table number. They should sort it out with you from there,” The waiter said, then suddenly his eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot! Your containers. I had them, um… oh. I’m really sorry, I left them in the kitchen. Can I take your plates for you and bring the containers back?” 

“Sure,” Ryan said, pushing his plate towards the waiter. “Thank you.” 

“Oh, you’re welcome,” The waiter said, a blush colouring his cheeks as he gathered up the plates and walked away. 

“Finally,” Ryan said, picking up his spoon again, ready to dig in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit late! I got a bit caught up in other stuff, but it's out now. I hope you like it! As always, I really love all the comments you guys give me, as well as the fact that this recently got some more kudos since I've been updating it. Thank you, guys! <3
> 
> Also, even though this fic is actually named Restuarant AU and I use the word Restuarant about every fifth sentence, I still forget how to spell restaurant....


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secret elephant notebooks?! Also, Ryan just wants to eat some apple pie but he keeps getting distracted.

“Wait!” Colin said suddenly. Ryan turned to him slowly, frowning. Colin was pulling out his notebook, flicking through the pages.

“Oh no.” Ryan said, his frown growing deeper. “Can’t we just enjoy this dessert?”

“Here it is!” Colin said, ignoring Ryan. Ryan make a weak attempt to grab the book, but Colin just lifted his hands away. Jeffrey sighed. “I thought I remembered it. ‘Get Ryan to feed a baby’.”

“I don’t think feeding Jeffrey this would be a good idea. What if he’s one of those kids that gets really hyper with sugar?” Ryan replied. 

“I suppose… we can put it off,” Colin said slowly, seeming disappointed. “But I won’t forget. I’m like an elephant.”

“An elephant?” Ryan asked, confused. 

“Yeah, don’t they have really good memories? Or is it dolphins…” Colin trailed off thoughtfully. 

“But that means that you’re a fake elephant, Colin,” Ryan said.

“... What?” 

Ryan gestured towards Colin’s notebook.

“You cheat. You have a notebook. Elephants probably don’t have notebooks,” Ryan explained. Colin frowned down at his notebook.

“Well, you never know Ryan. Maybe elephants have secret notebooks!” Colin nodded proudly as if he had trumped Ryan. Ryan chuckled.

“... Okay, how do these hypothetical elephants get these notebooks? Do they have secret elephant mail as well? Secret elephant businesses?” Ryan asked. Sadly, Colin only seemed more excited by this idea.

“Yes! That sounds great. Actually, you know what Ryan?” Colin asked smugly, shoving his notebook in Ryan’s face. “This very notebook, this one right here, is proof of these secret elephant businesses! I got this notebook from an elephant businessman!” 

“Oh, really?” Ryan replied, taking the book out of Colin’s hands. “I don’t see any distinguishing marks on this book. It could have been bought from anywhere!” 

Colin leaned in close to Ryan - being careful not to disturb a half asleep Jeffrey - and whispered,

“It’s called a _secret_ for a reason, Ryan.” 

Ryan smirked and leaned ever so slightly towards Colin.

“Did you have any particular reason for getting this close to me to say that?” Ryan whispered back. Colin flushed and pulled away, staring widely at Ryan for a few seconds.

“It’s called being dramatic, Ryan!” Colin said defensively. Ryan laughed and picked up his spoon.

“Sure, Colin,” Ryan replied, digging his spoon into his dessert and shoving it into his mouth before Colin could disturb him.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Colin asked, looking horribly confused. Ryan shook his head and motioned towards his mouth to show he couldn’t reply. Colin frowned.

“Fine,” Colin said grumpily. He copied Ryan, digging into his dessert and shoving it into his mouth indignantly. 

Ryan waited.

And waited.

… and waited?

“Omph mih goh!” Colin said happily through his mouthful of food. “Tish ish -”

“No speaking,” Ryan said, having just finished his. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

Ryan leaned back to watch Colin. Colin picked up his spoon and got some more, closing his eyes with a pleased sigh. Colin opened one eye and peeked out at Ryan. Ryan stared back, wondering what Colin was thinking. Suddenly, Colin looked begun choking on his food with a shocked expression. 

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked, sitting up and hovering his hands over Colin. Colin pushed his hands away and swallowed his food. He turned to Ryan accusingly, his face entirely red.

“You’re in love with me!” Colin stated angrily. Then he slapped his hand over his mouth, shaking his head.

“Uh…” Ryan said, feeling a little dizzy.

“Wait, I didn’t mean to say it that way. Or really say that at all actually,” Colin said, his eyes darting up to scan Ryan’s face. “Forget I said that!” 

“Um…” Ryan replied helplessly. 

“No! I did mean to say that! I-I did, didn’t I? I did. I absolutely - well, maybe not absolutely - but I did mean to say that. Slightly,” Colin said, confusing Ryan.

“Uh…?” Ryan replied, thinking maybe Colin would just sort out this little thing on his own and leave Ryan with his dessert for a few years.

“You’re in love with me?” Colin asked, staring at Ryan. Ryan sighed.

“We’ve been friends for years, Colin…” Ryan said, hoping he could play this off as platonic love and then go and cry in his room for a while.

“Shut up. You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Colin said, sounding both angry and scared.

“Are you seriously asking whether I ‘love love’ you?” Ryan asked weakly.

“Maybe. It depends. Do you?” 

“Do you?” 

“Is this seriously the best time to trigger this game, Ryan?” Colin asked, surprising Ryan. Oh right, three questions. 

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean to?” Ryan asked.

“Is the Pope Catholic?” Colin replied, smiling slightly. 

“Isn’t that my line?”

“Do you love me, Ryan?”

“Do you love me, Colin?”

“... Is Jeffrey cute?” 

“I… I can’t believe this,” Ryan said.

“By that I meant that Jeffrey is undeniably cute, so…” Colin said nervously.

“Yeah, I know,” Ryan replied, laughing. He turned to look at Colin, smiling uncontrollably. “I just thought, I’m really glad you got this stupid half price deal, Colin. I’m… glad.” 

“And the food was actually good!” Colin said, smiling back. 

“So… what happens now?” Ryan asked.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to eat,” Colin said, taking a spoonful of apple pie. Ryan stole the spoon out of Colin’s hand and stuck it into his own mouth, enjoying the sweet taste of the apple. 

“Ith tathy.” Ryan mumbled, holding his hand over his mouth as he handed the spoon back to Colin. Colin laughed and quickly leaned over and kissed Ryan. Colin pulled away within a few seconds, licking his lips.

“Yes, it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I didn't really mean to finish this, but it just kinda jumped up on me! Either way, I'm quite happy with this ending and sad to be seeing it go. To be honest, I have a very bad habit of never finishing fanfics, so I thought that this would forever have that question mark for total chapters. Thank you guys all for reading and for your comments(all of which have inspired me to keep writing as well as making my day so much better). <3


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